********** SYLVIA
One of the town's most enduring personalities, Sylvia was a miner's widow living in Breckenridge in the 1860s. She occupied a women's boarding house on Main Street and is said by many to still occupy the building. Sylvia was said to be a prospector herself (though of suitors, not gold), but failed to strike it rich and passed away alone. Today, visitors can try to spot Sylvia for themselves at the former boarding house (today's Prospector Restaurant), located at 130 S. Main Street, although local lore suggests that she reveals herself only to the males -- still in hope of finding a mate. ********** TOMMYKNOCKERS
Tommyknockers were the much feared and revered gremlins many Cornish miners believed inhabited the underground shafts where they worked. Lore suggests that they had a hand in the luck dealt to miners underground, and raising their displeasure was believed to cause accidents or death. In Idaho Springs, Colorado, visitors can visit the Tommyknocker Brewery, which also derived its name from these little elf-like creatures. Mischievous tommyknockers would dump over miners' lunch pails, blow out their candles and hide picks and shovels; friendly Tommyknockers on the other hand knock-knocked on the walls of the mines to show miners where the richest ore veins could be found--hence the origin of their names. Today, visitors can see if they can spot one of the Tommyknockers in Breckenridge at the Country Boy Mine or the Lomax Mine, located at 301 Ski Hill Road. Open for tours in the summer. ********** C. J. MUELLER
C. J. "Crazy John" Mueller is widely known as one of the fastest men on earth for his speed skiing abilities, and holds three world-record speed skiing titles to show for it. The speedy Breckenridge local was a member of the only U.S. Olympic Speed Skiing Team. John often lived up to his "Crazy"-title by regularly skiing in excess of 100 miles per hour. For more colorful characters of Breckenridge, visit the breckenridge.snow.com website here. Credit to breckenridge.snow.com and Tommyknocker Brewery for all information.
| 
